Monday, 29 September 2014

Prior to
the First World War, Antwerp had been designated the ‘National Reduit’, the
final safe haven for King, army and government in case of a German invasion. To
that end, Antwerp had been fortified with several fortified rings. Because of
its renown as a safe place to seek refuge and because King Albert, government
and army had indeed settled there, hundreds of thousands of Belgians had sought
refuge in the fortified port city.

However, on
28 September the Germans started shelling the city, a siege that intensified
over the subsequent 12 days, after which – on 9 October – the city surrendered.
In the meantime, up to a million refugees had moved on from Antwerp, most of
them towards the Netherlands, but also towards the United Kingdom. As such, Antwerp
plays a crucial role in the initial chapter of the story of the Belgian
refugees in Britain. The following concerns 29 September.

On 27
September the city of Mechelen (Malines), roughly 25km south of Antwerp, had
been taken by the German generaal Von Beseler. This freed German forces to
increase their pressure on the outer fortified ring, some forts of which were
located literally north of Mechelen.

On 29
September the German neared the river Rupel but were fired upon from the Fort of
Walem. However, resistance did not last long there as a German granate blew up
the munition chamber, destroying an important part of the fort. Nearby, the
fort of Fort Sint-Katelijne-Waver managed to resist for little more than a day
too. Further east, the German army installed two ‘Dikke Bertha’ canon at Heist-op-den-Berg.
They started shelling the fort of Lier, roughly 8km away. The Belgian army
withdraws from the fort only two days later.

In an ideal
world, it would be a valuable research project to be listing all casualties of
Belgian soldiers who died in the wider Antwerp area in the period 4 August – 9 October
and whether or not their families had already sought refuge elsewhere and
perhaps ended up in Britain. Also, how many wounded soldiers from these
battlefields convalesced in Britain? However, resources are very limited for the moment.

In
Flanders, people from Antwerp tend to be looked upon as boasting about
themselves. However, in the case of the movement war in Belgium in the first
months of the war Antwerp played a crucial part. By the end of the war, half
the Belgian refugees in Britain had been from the province of Antwerp. Antwerp
engineers and factory labourers from Elisabethville were among the first ones
allowed to return to Belgium so as to support the reconstruction efforts there.
This was also because refugees from the frontline in and around Ypres did not
have a house to get back to, even roads had gone.